46th Tactical Missile Squadron
The 46th Tactical Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its was last assigned to the 35th Air Division of Air Defense Command (ADC) at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. It was last active in 1972. History Airlift Operations The squadron was first activated under the 317th Transport Group (later 317th Troop Carrier Group), an element of Air Transport Command (later I Troop Carrier Command) in May 1942 as the group expanded from three to four squadrons. The group and squadron equipped with C-47 Skytrains and trained at several airfields in Texas, the midwest and the southeast. It also performed various airlift missions as part of its training. The squadron deployed to Australia, arriving in January 1943 as an element of Fifth Air Force. It made numerous flights in unarmed planes over the Owen Stanley Range transporting reinforcement and supplies to Wau, Papua New Guinea, where enemy forces were threatening a valuable Allied airdrome, for which it was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. It performed paratroop drops at Nadzab (the first airborne operation in the Southwest Pacific) and Noemfoor in New Guinea; Tagaytay, Luzon, and Corregidor and Aparri in the Philippines. Also performed cargo airlift, supply and evacuation, and other assigned missions along the northern coast of New Guinea; the Dutch East Indies and in the Philippines as part of MacArthur's island hopping offensive against the Japanese in the Southwest Pacific. This included supplying guerillas in Mindanao, Cebu, and Panay. In April 1945, it bombed Carabao Island with drums of napalm. The squadron deployed to Okinawa in August 1945 after the Japanese capitulation and became part of the American occupation forces. It replaced its C-47s with longer range C-46 Commando aircraft and moved to Japan and the Korean peninsula during late 1945. Its initial post-war missions included the evacuation of former Allied prisoners of war; later primarily cargo transport missions in the occupied areas of Japan and Korea during the postwar era. The squadron inactivated in 1949 in Japan due to budget constraints; its aircraft being assigned to other units as part of the consolidation. Cold War Air Defense The squadron was activated as the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) in 1959 at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, and stood alert during the Cold War, with IM-99A (later CIM-10) BOMARC surface to air antiaircraft missiles. The squadron was tied into a Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) direction center which could use analog computers to process information from ground radars, picket ships and airborne aircraft to accelerate the display of tracking data at the direction center to quickly direct the missile site to engage hostile aircraft.Winkler & Webster, p. 3 It trained personnel and prepared for operation of the BOMARC surface-to-air missiles; operated and maintained BOMARC missiles and associated equipment, trained personnel, and maintained a capability to intercept and destroy hostile aircraft until inactivation.Kane, Donald, AFHRA Lineage & Honors Statement 46th Tactical Missile Squadron, 2009 The squadron was inactivated on 31 October 1972, one of the last two BOMARC missile squadrons inactivated. The BOMARC missile site was located east-southeast of McGuire AFB at . Although geographically separated from the base, it was an off base facility of McGuire and the squadron received administrative and logistical support from McGuire. Consolidation The 46th Troop Carrier Squadron and the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron were consolidated on 19 September 1985 as the 46th Tactical Missile Squadron while remaining inactive. Lineage 46th Troop Carrier Squadron * Constituted as the 46th Transport Squadron on 30 May 1942 : Activated on 15 June 1942 : Redesignated as the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron on 4 July 1942 : Redesignated as the 46th Troop Carrier Squadron (Medium) on 10 August 1948 : Inactivated on 1 April 1949 * Consolidated with the 46 Air Defense Missile Squadron on 19 September 1985 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron : Constituted as the 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC) on 10 Dec 1958 : Activated on 1 Jan 1959 : Inactivated on 31 Oct 1972 * Consolidated with the 46 Troop Carrier Squadron on 19 September 1985 Assignments * 317th Transport Group (later Troop Carrier Group), 15 June 1942 * Fifth Air Force, 18 August 1948 - 1 April 1949 (attached to 317th Troop Carrier Wing, 18 August 1948, 6146th Station Group, 1 October 1948, 374th Troop Carrier Group, 5 March 1949 - 1 April 1949 * New York Air Defense Sector, 1 Jan 1959 * 21st Air Division, 1 Apr 1966 * 35th Air Division, 1 Dec 1967 - 1 Oct 1972 Stations * Duncan Field, Texas, 15 June 1942 * Bowman Field, Kentucky, 19 June 1942; * Lawson Field, Georgia, 10 October 1942 * Laurinburg-Maxton Airport, North Carolina, 3–12 December 1942 * Garbutt Field, Australia, 23 January 1943 * Port Moresby Airfield Complex, Papua New Guinea, 1 October 1943 * Finschhafen Airfield, Papua New Guinea, 19 April 1944 * Hollandia Airfield Complex, New Guinea, 5 July 1944 * Tanauan Airfield, Leyte, Philippines, 19 November 1944 * Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines, March 1945 * Kadena Airfield, Okinawa, 19 August 1945 * Seoul Airport, Korea, 19 October 1945 * Tachikawa Airfield, Japan, 19 January 1946 * Kimpo Airfield, Korea, 10 July 1946 * Matsushima Air Field, Japan, 1 August 1948 * Tachikawa AB, Japan, 1 October 1948 – 1 April 1949 * McGuire AFB, New Jersey, 1 Jan 1959-1 Oct 1972 Awards * * Distinguished Unit Citation : Papua New Guinea, 30 January 1943 - 1 February 1943 : Philippine Islands, 16 February 1945 - 17 February 1945 * * Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation * * Asiatic Pacific Theater * Campaigns : Papua : New Guinea : Northern Solomons : Bismark Archipelago : Western Pacific : Leyte : Luzon : Southern Philippines * * World War II Army of OccupationThe streamer inscription would read "Japan", not "Europe." Aircraft and missiles * C-47 Skytrain, 1942–1945 * C-46 Commando, 1945–1949 * IM-99 (later CIM-10) BOMARC, 1959-1972 See also * List of United States Air Force missile squadrons References Category:Military units and formations of the United States in World War II Category:Missile squadrons of the United States Air Force